If Nebraska Republicans Changed Their Electoral College Rules to Help Donald Trump last November, a prominent Maine Democrat said her party would try to take a similar step to counteract the impact.
House Majority Leader Maureen Terry said in a statement Friday that the Democratic-controlled Legislature would be “forced to act to restore fairness” if Nebraska’s Republican governor signed a bill. law that would make the state a winner-takes-all state. elections in 2024.
Currently, Maine and Nebraska allocate a portion of their electoral votes based on which candidate wins each congressional district. This structure seems likely to result in Trump winning an electoral college vote in Maine and Joe Biden winning one in Nebraska next November.
But Republican lawmakers in Nebraska have sought to change their current system to eliminate the possibility that Biden could, as he did in 2020, win an Electoral College vote by winning the state’s Omaha district. A bill to turn the state into a winner-take-all state is languishing in the Legislature. But with encouragement from Trump’s allies, Gov. Jim Pillen approved calling a special session to try to pass the bill. He would still have to pass a Democratic-led filibuster, even if the margin is extremely tight.
“I am unwavering in my commitment to bringing victory to the finish line, honoring our constitutional foundation, unifying our state, and ending the three-decade-old error of awarding Nebraska’s electoral votes differently than every other state except one,” Pillen said.
If Nebraska Republicans were able to change the voting system there, it would close off the simplest path to President Biden’s re-election: holding the three “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while also winning Nebraska’s 2nd District, a blue-leaning seat. based in Omaha. It would also prompt Maine Democrats to respond in kind by turning their system into a winner-take-all election, thereby depriving Trump of a likely electoral vote there.
Until recently, Democratic state lawmakers have not entertained such a hypothesis. But on Friday, Terry said they should consider taking action if Nebraska does as well.
“Maine voters and voters in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District value their independence, but they also value fairness and following the rules,” Terry said. “If Nebraska’s Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature were to change their voting system this late in the cycle to unfairly grant Donald Trump an additional electoral vote, I believe the Maine Legislature would be forced to to act to restore fairness in our system. the country’s electoral system.
“It is my hope and that of my colleagues in Maine that the Nebraska Republican Party decides not to make this desperate and unfortunate attempt to influence the 2024 election,” she said.
The Maine Legislature, like that of Nebraska, has already…
